


Stagnant

by UnspokenWords



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Background Shiro/Adam, Background broganes, Broken Bones, Domestic, Fluff, Friendship, Gay Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kosmo the Dog, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Self-Discovery, Traveler Keith, background Romelle/Allura, but they're not boyfriends yet so, is this cottagecore?, vegetarian Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnspokenWords/pseuds/UnspokenWords
Summary: Lance lives alone on a tall mountain, in his small cottage, tending to his garden and to injured animals. Some days, Lance is happy and comfortable where he is, because it’s home. Other days, Lance feels stuck. He feels like he isn’t giving back to the world, like he should be exploring but he can’t. He can’t even go outside, because it’s too much. One day, a traveler gets stuck in the storm, and Lance invites the traveler in, not expecting him to change his life.
Relationships: Allura & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80





	Stagnant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cafri_jonique](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafri_jonique/gifts).



> Hello everyone! This was commissioned by @cafrifri on Twitter! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Lance has always been standing still in time. He was born in a house in the mountains, and when everyone left him, he remained. It’s not a big house; it’s a cottage, with only enough room comfortably for him and a guest, but Lance has many guests. The house is full of all of his friends — the cat he rescued from a trapper’s rabbit trap, a rabbit he rescued from one, the bird who has a broken leg that he’s taking care of until it can leave. He’s tried to set some of his friends free once, to let them roam like they were meant to, but they always came back. He supposes he’s thankful for that, since it makes his house feel a lot less empty and a lot less lonely, but it’s also very chaotic.

Lance isn’t small — he’s average height — but in comparison to the tall cold mountains, to the trees in the hidden valley behind his house, he is. Among the animals and the wildlife, Lance just blends right in. He’s not weak; he’s capable of catching animals and fighting the bigger ones to protect himself and his house, but Lance doesn’t like to do it. He’s a vegetarian for a reason. Well, he also is surrounded by wildlife and tons of edible foods, so that’s part of it too. Enough people are hunting the animals here, Lance knows that. This area is all Lance has ever known, and it’s probably all he will ever know.

Lance isn’t unhappy here at all. It’s comforting; it’s routine. There’s nothing too surprising, but there are surprises. There’s just enough variation to make things interesting, like when a new plant grows or he rescues a new animal or when the plants in his garden are ready to be harvested. Maybe he cooks a new stew for dinner, maybe he sleeps with a new blanket that he traded for, maybe he falls asleep looking at the sunset. These sorts of days make Lance feel fuzzy, makes him feel like the sunset is inside his heart, the colors bouncing infinitely. It feels warm and heavy and rich, but maybe that’s just from the stew in his stomach. 

But there are days where Lance can’t go outside. It’s too overwhelming, he doesn’t feel like he deserves to. What’s the point in going out into the world if you aren’t exploring it, if you aren’t seeing all it has to offer? Lance could go anywhere, could brave the icy winds of the mountains of a storm, could travel as far as he wanted, and he doesn’t. All he knows is here, and it’s scary. But he feels like he should, feels like he’s not giving the world what it gives him if he doesn’t explore, but he can’t go farther. On those days, Lance wonders if he should even be able to eat, because he’s taken so much from the world and yet has not given anything in return by seeing what it wants to show him. He feels like he’s not important, like he’s not fulfilling his purpose. But then his stomach grumbles, and it’s hard to ignore it for much longer, and the cat he rescued rubs against his leg and jumps to the food table, meowing for Lance to join them and eat, and Lance can’t say no.

Lance has always been standing still in time, always been standing in the same place. He’s always here, waiting for something, but he doesn’t know what. Maybe it’s the courage to finally go outside, to travel and see the world, or maybe it’s a miracle. Lance doesn’t know what kind of miracle it could be, but maybe it’s a miracle.

Lance’s miracle comes in the form of a woman named Allura. There’s a storm, and the snow is falling heavily, a flurry, and strong winds making it hard for the others to see in the dark, and he hears a knock on the door and meets Allura. She asks if there’s anywhere nearby to stay for the night, while the storm is bad, but Lance knows the area and knows the storm will last for a few days. He also knows that there’s no place close enough for her to stay, but Lance has space. If the animals sleep with him on the upper open level, then they can fit Allura. So he invites Allura in, offers her some food, and invites her to stay until the storm is over.

She asks him why he’s here, and Lance tells her that he’s always been here. He’s always lived here. So, Lance turns the question to her, to try and change the subject, and asks her why she’s here. And she tells the story of her journey over a bowl of stew, tells Lance about all the places she’s been. She tells Lance about how she had heard the legend of the blue deer and how it was on a mountain near a lake, and how she’s been exploring just to find it. She tells Lance how all of her exploring and questions have led her to this mountain, that it will show itself to someone worthy, someone who has steeped in the petals of wisdom. She tells him how she went to the lake where the deer is supposed to appear, how she had soaked in the lake with the surrounding flowers, but to no avail. She tells him how she was on her way down to leave when the storm started, and then she found his house.

Lance asks her about how she got here, how she found all the clues, and if she’s disappointed, and she tells him that she isn’t. She tells him about all the travelers she’s met, the horses she’s ridden to get here, the different foods she’s tried. Allura tells Lance that his stew is unlike any other she’s tried before. Allura tells him about the blacksmith she met, a girl named Romelle with muscles and smarts, about the swords she’s made, and shows him the dagger she’s carrying from her. And then, they’re sitting with empty bowls of soup, and it’s late, so Lance tells her to sleep and sets up some sheets so that she can sleep downstairs, and Lance sleeps upstairs.

The storm lasts for three days. In those three days, Allura gets to know the cat, gets to know the bird, gets to know the rabbit, gets to know Lance. And Lance gets to know her, and gets to know what she knows. She tells him about different herbs, tells him about the places she’s gone. She tells him tales of other people she’s met on her travels, of the different cultures she’s seen around the country. And Lance listens intently to each story, wishing he could go out, his heart racing. He sees them in his dreams, dreams of the hot desert with the cacti and of the village she mentioned, dreams of the swamp and those bubbles and the wet mud and the sickly smell, dreams of waterfalls and rainbows and the flowers she talked about. 

And then the storm is over, and Allura has to leave. She has to get back on her journey, back off the mountain. She has to go see Romelle, which is where she was heading before the storm. And Lance wishes she didn’t have to, wishes those stories didn’t have to leave, but he would never try to hold her back. Lance tries to give her a lot of things, lots of stew and vegetable mixes so that she can eat it on her journey. He gives her water and a jacket in case she gets cold, and Allura’s bag is stuffed full, but Allura isn’t hurrying him. She’s petting the cat and even sitting on the floor, like she has nowhere to be. She looks around outside, at all the terrain she was never able to travel, and turns around to give Lance a few things.

And that’s Lance’s miracle, a girl who gives him a glimpse of the world outside of the mountain, a girl who gives him items he would’ve never had. She gave him stories and books and souvenirs from her travels, and then she leaves. Lance uses them to decorate his house, to entertain himself after she leaves. One of the books is about medical care and taking care of others, how to treat a broken bone, how to brew soups and other home remedies and good plants for rashes and other ailments. The other one is a book of recipes from another village, and Lance tries them with the veggies he has and finds them delicious. 

But then, it wears out. It’s been months, and Lance hasn’t seen anyone new. He’s told himself his stories time and time again, remembered what Allura said about outside, and he’s still scared, and there’s nothing new. He’s tried every recipe, found every herb, read every book time and time again, and Lance is back to his usual routine, except now it includes the gifts that Allura gave him. Lance is back to his nights where he feels either warm and fuzzy and full, or nights where he feels like he isn’t doing enough. Lance doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong. Was Allura not the miracle he was waiting for?

It’s one of those nights where Lance feels like he’s not worthy of eating when he hears the wind chimes clanging at full force, and he knows it’s a storm, and he hears a sound from outside. It’s a cry of some sort, and it’s either from an injured animal or something else, but Lance has to check. It’s been months since Allura was here, so it isn’t likely to be another person. 

But, Lance grabs his lantern and lights the candle inside, and walks to the bottom of the hill in his thickest coat, braving the strong winds and snow, hoping the hail doesn’t come soon. The crying sound continues, but it’s beginning to sound less like a big cat because Lance hears... words. Lance hears cries for help, for someone to save them, and Lance doesn’t know if he can help, but he goes down the stairs faster, trying to get to the person as fast as he can.

He gets to the bottom of the stairs and shines the light and finds a man with black hair in the snow on his back, clutching his arm, his face grimacing. He’s only got a messenger bag on him, no backpack, and he won’t survive in the cold and storm like this, especially with so little supplies. Lance should bring him in, let him stay like he did with Allura, and help him with whatever he needs help with.

So Lance reaches out his hand, reaches out his lantern, and lights up the man's face. He’s got a scar on his cheek, probably from one of his many travels, but Lance doesn’t ask.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “Was that you calling out for help?”

The man doesn’t answer though, at least not with his voice. He just nods his head, and that’s perfectly fine. Lance will take a nod. So, Lance gestures to his house, where the lights are still on and the ingredients for dinner are sitting on the cutting board, and invites him inside. The man gets up just fine on his own, despite Lance offering to help, and walks behind Lance to his house.

Lance cooks his chunky stew in silence, letting the man get comfortable while sitting at the table. Letting the man get comfortable with the silence, letting him take in the surroundings, letting him meet the cat and the rabbit and the bird. Lance would usually let his stew simmer down for hours, but he doesn’t know if he has the time or if the man is that hungry.

“Do you mind waiting for a few hours for the stew to become thicker?”

“I don’t mind,” the man says, uttering his first words since he called out for help. 

“That’s good.” Lance puts the lid on his pot and walks over to the table. “Do you need anything?”

The man is silent again. Lance doesn’t mind. They have all the time in the world for the man to tell him what's wrong. 

“I think my arm is broken. Like the bone.”

“Your arm is  _ what?! _ You should’ve said something earlier!” Lance runs over to his bookshelf and pulls out the book Allura gave him, quickly finding the page on healing broken bones. He’s used some of these methods on animals, to medium success, but never on a human. Thankfully, the book was fairly clear on how to do things.

“Well, the bone isn’t sticking out, so that’s a good sign.”

“It’s probably just a small fracture or something; I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that! You should take precautions. If it’s causing you that much pain, then something clearly needs to be done.”

“So, what do you want me to do then?”

“You won’t be able to leave for a while because of the storm in the first place, since it lasts a few days, so just let me take a look at it and see what I can do. Besides, I don’t think you could make it back down the mountain without your arm for support, especially when you only have one bag and none of the proper equipment. You should stay and let me treat your arm.”

His face contorts into a grimace. “How long will that take? I can’t stay long, I have to get back to my family. They’ll be worried about me.”

“Anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. It’s safer for you to just stay longer in case it isn’t healed and you leave and it gets worse.”

The grimace falls from his face, and he puts his head in his hand, the arm that wasn’t broken.

“We can try to send a letter to your family to let them know what's happening once the storm lets up.”

“Okay,” is all he says.

“Since we’re going to be together for a while, might as well introduce ourselves. I’m Lance.”

“Keith.”

Lance does his best to keep the broken part in place with a few splints and wraps it in bandages stiffened with starch. He grabs a cloth and puts Keith’s arm in it, then ties it around his neck to keep the arm in place. By the time he’s done, the stew has finished, and they eat together at the table in silence. Keith is a silent person, or rather he’s not open. Lance isn’t going to push. Keith eats his stew with his non-dominant hand, doing the best job he can. Eventually, he gives up and just starts slurping from the bowl. Lance finds it kind of charming.

Once everything’s done, Lance sets up the bed for Keith, and Keith sleeps. But Lance, he tries to sleep, closing his eyes, but he can’t. Lance has felt stagnant for so long, but for a second, he wonders if that’s okay. If Lance wasn’t here, Keith would’ve had to walk for miles to get to the next house. And if he hadn’t found Lance’s house, he would’ve been trying to get down the mountain with a broken arm. Maybe being stagnant was good.

But the thought fades quickly, because Lance starts thinking about Keith’s arm. He doesn’t know anything about Keith. If Keith moves around in the night, he could accidentally sleep on his arm. So, Lance sneaks down, heats some water, and makes himself tea made from the mint leaves that he grew in his garden, caffeinated, to stay awake and make sure Keith doesn’t move around too much during the night. He stays up all night.

The next few days are spent indoors while they wait out the storm. Lance tries to keep the house warm, with a fire going, but the fire keeps getting put out from the snow. He cooks different types of stew, trying to keep some variation and to keep them from getting cold. He makes sure Keith rests his arm and eats enough food, since it would help his bone heal. During the waking hours, he tries to talk to Keith and play games with him. The games don't work that much, but the talking does. Lance finds that Keith really gets talking when it comes to certain things. 

He gets Keith to show him his collection of knives, and Keith tells him about each one in detail. He talks about how one of them shifts colors based on the angle of the light, how he got it from saving someone’s life. He talks about how one of them is actually a ceremonial knife passed down in his family, how his father and mother had given it to him when he was a kid. He talks about the one with the red gem in the handle and how his brother had made it to him as a gift when he started traveling. He talks about the scraggly knife that looks the most worn, about how he made it himself with a little bit of help from a blacksmith.

They play different board games. Keith is reserved at first, playing calmly and quietly. He doesn’t take time on his moves, he just plays right away. Maybe he’s thinking out his turns ahead of time, or maybe he’s being impulsive, but Lance couldn’t tell. But, Lance picked the right game to play, because the second he makes a good play and annihilates Keith, Keith gets loud. He’s competitive, impulsive, but smart. His plays are made on instinct, but his gut is good.

After their games, Keith seems to find the silence awkward, despite usually being the quiet one of the two, because he always seems to ask about something in the room. On the first day, he asks about the glass with soft edges hanging from Lance’s higher ledge where his bed is. Lance tells him how he got it from one of his friends, Hunk, who told him that he got it from the sea when he walked down the mountain to trade. It’s sea glass, and Lance hung it there from a string because the light passes through it some days and it makes a rainbow on the floor. On the second day, he asks about the bottles of red liquid on Lance’s shelf. Lance tells him how his friend Pidge gave it to him, how they and Hunk created a medicine to make Lance feel better when he gets sick, and how they insisted on putting it in fancy bottles that make them look like potions.

On the third day, he asks about the crystal ball that Lance keeps next to his book station, and Lance freezes. He doesn’t know if he can tell Keith about Allura, if he can relive the hurt that he felt when she left and the emptiness that he felt even before Keith arrived. But, Keith told him about his knives, so Lance can tell him about Allura. So he does. He tells Keith that it was given to him by another traveler who came through just like Keith, except she didn’t have any broken bones. He tells Keith about the three days they spent inside together because of the storm, and about all the stories she told him of her adventures. He tells Keith how the crystal ball was given to Allura by someone after she saved their life. The person told her that it was a good luck token, and that it should be given to someone who has saved your life, so Allura gave it to Lance.

“It’s funny though,” Lance says, “because I didn’t think that I saved her life. I had thought she saved mine.” And there’s something about Keith, because Lance wants to tell him. Maybe it’s the fact that he tends to stay quiet and listen, or that his eyes seem to be glistening when listening to Lance talking, or the fact that he wants to actually know about Lance, but Lance tells him.

“I’ve always just felt like I’m standing still in time, like I’m stuck here. I’m stagnant. There are days where, even though the weather is perfect, I can’t get a foot outside. It’s overwhelming, everything around me. While it normally feels familiar and comforting, some days it’s just too much. There’s so much of the world to explore and so much I can see, and it’s too much. And it makes me feel bad about not being brave enough to leave. I feel like I’m letting the world down by not going anywhere, like I’ve taken so much from this world and haven’t given anything back. I feel... stuck.”

“Lance—”

“But when Allura came, she was like a miracle. It had always felt like I was standing still waiting for a miracle, and Allura came and I thought she was my miracle. She gave me stories and visions and items from outside of the mountain and it made me feel like it was all worth it. That she showed up to make me see how much there is to offer, but there was no point. Because the feeling from her staying and her gifts only kept me entertained for a while. And after hearing those stories about the outside, I can’t help but think that I’m still stuck by my fear because I can’t let myself explore.”

“Lance, I don’t think she was your miracle. I don’t think there is a miracle coming. It’s up to you to decide when you’re going to not let fear stop you and to just do it,” Keith says. “But, until that time comes, it’s okay to stay still. If you hadn’t stayed still and left, you wouldn’t have met Allura and helped her. The world will wait for you to be ready.”

The world will wait for Lance to be ready to leave? Lance has never thought about it like that before, and while he’s skeptical of it, it also feels like two big doors have swung open and let out everything he’s ever been scared of.

After that conversation, everything seems to change, and that’s not just because the storm has ended. Keith seems more open, more willing to talk to Lance and to tell him about things. He offers to join Lance to go outside for the first time, but Lance refuses. Keith needs to stay and rest his arm, and Lance needs to figure himself out. Lance has always been alone, so he’s never needed alone time, but right now, he does. Lance goes out to check on his garden and all the animals and the trees and to make sure everything is okay. He goes to Hunk’s house, but Hunk is gone on a trading expedition. And by the time he makes it back to the house, he’s made a decision.

Lance is okay being stagnant as long as it means that he can be someone’s stop in the road, someone’s shelter. Keith was right. If he wasn’t home, Allura would’ve had to walk all the way to Hunk’s which is too far to go during a storm, and if he wasn’t at home, she could’ve died. And Keith, he had fallen over with his broken arm. Hunk does have the knowledge to fix it and more tools to keep it in place, and Pidge has more technology, so they could’ve easily fixed Keith’s arm together, but he would’ve never made it in the storm with his arm like that. Lance is perfect exactly where he is. And, if he does ever want to leave, the world will be waiting for him.

Just like how Keith is waiting for him at home. Maybe Lance didn’t think through leaving him behind, because while he did get to think about what he wanted to do, he didn’t exactly give Keith much to do while he was gone. So, when Lance gets through the door, he expects to see Keith sitting down and attempting to shine or sharpen one of his knives with one hand.

But, Lance walks in to see him lying down in bed, with the cat cuddled up by his side, sleeping, and Lance has never seen Keith look as happy as he does right now. But, the sleep doesn’t last for long, because Lance has to wake Keith up. When he first invited Keith into his home, he told him that he would help Keith get a letter to his family, and he intends to keep that promise. He wakes him up, hands him a quill and paper, and Keith gets to writing. Lance helps hold the paper in place so it doesn’t move too much, but it doesn’t help the handwriting. Keith’s using his non-dominant hand, and he’s trying the best he can. Thankfully, it’s legible enough to be read. But, for the address, Lance writes it with Keith’s instructions, then seals the letter with wax, and they go to sleep. 

The next week is a learning curve for Lance. While he does most of his usual routine from before Keith came — like tending to his garden, exploring, and harvesting what he can — he also has to do things he doesn’t usually do. He goes to Hunk’s every day, seeing if he’s returned, so he can give him Keith’s letter. When Hunk is finally back, he also gets goat milk from him. Lance uses it to make cheese by mixing it with lemon juice from the lemons from his garden, since cheese has protein and Keith needs a balanced diet. If Lance had the stomach for hunting, he would get Keith meat, but he doesn’t. One time, Lance came home to Keith cooking for the two of them. Usually, Keith stays home, reading books and rummaging through things, but he decided to try something new. Of course, it wasn’t the best meal, since he couldn’t really cut much with one arm, but it was good. After that, Lance tries to include Keith’s help the best he can with meals. 

And that’s what the next month consists of, this new routine. Lance goes out and comes back home with stuff to eat and stories to tell, and Keith stays around. Lance isn’t out all day though, so when he’s home, he just plays games and talks to Keith. And, on the last day of the month, Keith gets a letter back from his family. And Keith reads it, his eyes sparkling, and smiles when he’s done. He folds it up carefully and puts it in his bag, and Lance doesn’t understand why he’s sad at the letter, but he is. He should be happy because Keith is hearing back from his family, and he is, but there’s something else. Maybe Keith has someone back home he’s waiting for?

Lance can’t help himself; he asks about the letter and Keith’s family, and Keith tells him. Keith tells him about his dog Kosmo, who is waiting with him at home with his brother and his brother's husband. He tells him about how he found him abandoned as a puppy, and how he couldn’t just leave him behind. He tells him about how Kosmo grew huge over the years, and how he can take up a whole bed by himself. He talks about how his fur gets everywhere, even in the food, and how his brother has tried to make a hat out of it before.

He tells Lance about his brother, Shiro, and his brother’s husband, Adam. He tells him about how Shiro was a family friend before Keith’s parents died, and how he and Adam took Keith in. He tells him how Shiro proposed to Adam with a vine around his finger, and how Shiro claims it wasn’t really a proposal. He tells him how Adam proposed to Shiro with a real ring a few years later. He tells Lance about how they’re both teachers now, and how they’ve said they started bringing Kosmo to school while he’s gone.

Keith looks so happy talking about his family, so happy that Lance can’t help but want him to go home with the people that make him feel at home. Keith isn’t at home here, and while Lance is oddly happy at the fact that there’s no one special waiting at home for Keith, he’s also still sad. Because no matter what, Keith will have to leave eventually.

So, Lance commits to spending the most of the time he does have with Keith. Lance starts to invite him out when he goes outside. Not only does it give them more time together, but it also means Keith isn’t as bored during the day. Lance really should’ve done this sooner, especially because he doesn’t have too many books and Keith has probably read them all. Keith seems to be excited when Lance offers it too, and he’s amazed to see the path he walked on to get to Lance’s house.

And he’s amazed to see Lance’s garden and how well it seems to have stood up during the storms. Lance tells Keith that his family built this shed for him before they all left on their own adventures over time. He tells Keith how they’ve never come back, even just as a pitstop, and how they must’ve assumed that Lance had left too. He tells Keith how the shed protecting it reminds him of his family in both the worst and best ways, and how he'd rather be rid of it some days.

But, Lance doesn’t want to keep talking about the shed, so they go out throughout the forest, foraging and harvesting what they can, and seeing if there are any injured animals. Lance didn’t know that his heart could grow bigger, but it does when he sees Keith taking care of animals. Keith, despite not knowing how to treat his broken bone, surprisingly knows a lot about how to treat animals for other things. Maybe it’s because of Kosmo, or maybe it’s just that he likes animals, but Lance finds it sweet.

Keith is also good with food. Lance knew this, since Keith was helping with meals, but he starts to tell Lance about recipes from where he grew up. He taught Lance how to cook it and what they could substitute. The food turns out amazing, though Keith says it’s not like the real deal. Lance writes down the recipes in a notebook he gets from Hunk, and calls it “The Purple Cookbook,” since the first thing they made was a purple soup. They keep adding more recipes to it, making funny notes and even playing tic-tac-toe in the margins.

And this brings them closer. Keith talks even more during dinners, talking more about his family, and he talks about Lance. This is surprising to him, because Lance didn’t think he needed talking about when he was right in front of Keith, but Keith seems to think so. Keith will talk about his eyes, and how they look like the sea glass. Keith will talk about how he wishes he could eat Lance’s cooking forever, but he wishes he could help more. Keith will talk about Lance’s hair, and ask how it doesn’t get frizzy when it rains.

And, most important of all, Keith tells Lance it’s okay to be still. Because, even though Keith is here, Lance sometimes gets in that mood. Somedays, he tries to tell Keith that he shouldn’t go out. He makes breakfast, but he doesn’t eat it. He just watches Keith eat. And Keith doesn’t badger him about not eating, because maybe Lance just isn’t hungry or not feeling good, but he does badger Lance about not going out. He tells Lance that it’s okay to be still, that not exploring the world is okay. He tells Lance that exploring the world can wait, but if he wants to feel like he’s fulfilling his purpose and give back to the world, then he should go out and check on the animals they helped yesterday. He tells Lance that doing what he can is giving back to the world, and that he’s trying his best. And then he tells Lance that he’ll wait for him.   
And that’s what gets Lance, is Keith telling Lance that he’ll wait for him. He’s not burdened by Lance, he doesn’t assume Lance will stay here, but he assumes that Lance will go out eventually. And he’ll be there when Lance does go. Keith cares, not just because his arm is broken and Lance is taking care of him, but he actually cares about him. And Lance, he cares about Keith. Maybe Allura wasn’t his miracle, but Lance sure as hell thinks Keith is. 

One day, Keith tries to go ahead of him on their walk outside and Lance catches him near the shed. And Lance, Lance didn’t expect to see the guy he was in love with holding a knife and trying to dig it into the wood. Lance didn’t really care too much about the shed, since it just reminded him of his family that left him, but he did care about what Keith was doing.

“Keith, what are you doing to the shed?”

“Nothing.”

“Keith, I can see you digging the knife into the wood. That’s the one you like to use for carving wood too, so you’re clearly doing something to my wooden shed. What are you doing?”

Lance watches as Keith's face turns red, and maybe it’s just that it’s cold, but Lance wants to think otherwise. “I’m carving our names into the side,” Keith mutters.

“What.” Lance rushes over to look, and sees that Keith is right. He’s carved ‘Keith Kogane was here’ on the wood, and then added a small ‘Lance was also here’ underneath it. 

“I know you have a lot of bad memories with this shed,” Keith says, “so I thought I’d give you a good memory. I wrote my name so you’ll remember your times with me.”

And that hits Lance in the face like a piece of hail during a storm. Keith wants to erase his bad memories with his parents to the point that he defaces the wooden shed they made, and Lance finds that way too romantic. But, it also reminds him that Keith is going to leave at some point. He’s going to be gone, and go back to his family and his dog, and they’ll be happy without him. Lance will be alone again.

“Lance? Are you mad at me? I can try and fix it if you want—” 

“I’m not mad Keith, I’m just... thinking.” Yeah. Lance was thinking.

“Lance, I—” Keith is looking at him, his face still red. “I... Lance, I just...”

Lance doesn’t know what Keith is going to say. He can hope that Keith is saying he wants to stay, or that he loves Lance and he was flirting with him and that he’s going to carve a heart into the side of the shed too, but hopes are hopes. Hopes are not reality. And Keith, Keith will wait for Lance, but Lance can’t wait for Keith to make up his mind. Keith’s arm is going to heal soon and he’s going to leave, and Lance doesn’t have the time to wait.

“Please just say it,” Lance says, hoping that Keith will make him stop waiting.

“... I just think we should get moving,” Keith says instead. He pockets his knife lower than usual, and walks away. And Lance knows that maybe it was his tone, but he also knows that Keith has made his decision. And Lance is just going to have to live with it until Keith leaves.

But, at night, Lance can’t help but think of Keith. He dreams of days where he can kiss Keith on the lips, where they can hold hands on their walks, where they can lay together in the bed with Kosmo, and Lance wakes up with tears in his eyes. Lance knew he was in love with Keith, but he’s in  _ love _ with Keith. He’s in love with Keith, the man with a sandpaper exterior but melting chocolate inside. He’s in love with Keith, the smiley dork who carved their names into a shed. He’s in love with Keith, the competitive man with the soft laugh and the scars on his hands that Lance wants to kiss. He’s in love with Keith, his miracle.

And Lance stops crying over it. If he’s in love with Keith, he’s in love with Keith. There’s nothing he can do about it, so he’s going to enjoy the days he has left. And so he does. He laughs and cries and uses excuses to hold Keith’s hand, like when he said he wanted to show him the snow angel he made.   
And then the day finally comes, and Lance isn’t ready to let him go. Keith was his miracle, and Lance doesn’t want his miracle to leave. He wants him to stay. Lance is scared. He’s scared he’ll go back to doubting himself if Keith leaves, if Lance will go back to not wanting to change, not wanting to move forward. He’s made so much progress while Keith was here, and if he would stay, Lance knows he would make more progress and be happy.

“Do you want to stay? Stay and live here with me, with the animals and the garden and the snow, Keith?”

“As much as I wish I could, I can’t. But I’ll be back as soon as I can, and I’ll stay with you then. I promise.”

And so Lance packs his bag for him to leave. He puts in some of the meals that imitated the ones from his hometown and teas that Keith loved in a big bag that Lance got from Hunk, since it wouldn’t fit in Keith’s messenger bag. Lance packs blankets, trinkets, and a knife that Allura had left with him. And then, Keith is waving goodbye.

And as Keith’s back starts to disappear into the distance, Lance thinks. Keith said he’ll be back, but Lance doesn’t know if he believes it. Keith has always been truthful to Lance, but there’s so many outside circumstances. And he said he’d be back soon, but he doesn’t know about that. How soon was soon?

Lance wakes up the next morning and makes too much food. He was used to making food for Keith, and now that Keith isn’t here. He puts the rest in a container and puts it out in the snow to keep it cold. The cat keeps meowing, looking for Keith, but Keith isn’t there. Lance wishes Keith was there too. The games go untouched because Lance has no one to play with. He spends this month almost never going outside.

But, Lance doesn’t spiral. Even if he starts thinking that he’s stagnant again, he remembers what Keith said. One day, when he’s missing Keith, he opens their cookbook and something falls out. It’s a letter from Keith to Lance. Lance forgets about the food and opens the letter.

> _ Dear Lance, _
> 
> _ I’ve been a bold person all my life. I jump into things headfirst without thinking and make brash decisions. But you, you made me think. I’ve never been more hesitant than I’ve ever been around you, and maybe there’s a reason for that. _
> 
> _ I’ll tell you the reason when I get back. I will be back and I’ll bring Kosmo back with me, so make space for a big dog. But, that’s not the reason I’m writing this. _
> 
> _ I wanted to remind you that it’s okay to feel stuck and alone. I used to feel that way for a long time, when Shiro and Adam had just taken me in. With both of my parents gone, I felt like there was no reason to do anything anymore. Eventually, I continued going forward, but there are days that I don’t want to go outside too. _
> 
> _ And that’s okay. We’re both okay. When I get back, we can be as stagnant or as active as you want to, together. I’ll be back soon. _
> 
> _ Keith _

Lance keeps the letter by his side. He reads it before he goes to sleep, he reads it when he wakes up, he reads it like a prayer to the gods. He goes outside again, and visits Hunk and the animals and his garden. He harvests food, and he tries to go back to normal. Because, normal is what he and Keith had, and that normal will be back when Keith gets back.

And one day, when Lance gets home from getting books from Hunk, he finds Keith and a big fluffy dog in his house. And Lance can’t help it, he runs up to Keith and he hugs him, and Keith hugs him back.

“How did you get in?”

“You leave the spare key in the same place.”

“Keith, I love you.”

“I’m in love with you too.”

And life goes back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be with a huge dog in the household. Lance and Keith start dating not long after that confession. Keith builds him a new shed, and they carve their names on it, inside of a heart. They have their first kiss in the glow of a campfire, when Lance was feeling impulsive and asked Keith if he could kiss him. They start sharing a bed, and cuddle in bed together with Kosmo and the cat. 

And Keith tells him that he would love it if he could meet Shiro and Adam. He told them about Lance when he was gone and preparing to come back, and they wanted to meet him. Keith tells Lance that they were willing to come up, but Lance wants to be brave. He wants to stop being stagnant. It’s a short trip, so it’ll only take a week. Keith makes the animals a little door, so they can go in and out of the house for food. Lance is okay being stagnant, but with Keith by his side, he’s willing to try. The world waited for him, and Lance is finally ready to try. So, with his hand in Keith’s and Kosmo by their side, they go off to visit Shiro and Adam.

**Author's Note:**

> I had such a fun time writing this fic! Honestly, I kept trying to decide if the world was magical or if it wasn't, so a lot of the fic toes the line there. But, eventually, it ended up being non-magical. I also got to use my more "poetic" style of writing in this one! Originally, I wasn't going to add dialogue, but I eventually added it throughout the fic. 
> 
> If you enjoyed this or if you didn't, please leave a comment below! Or, find me on Twitter! 
> 
> Twitter: [@_keithtrash_](https://twitter.com/_keithtrash_)
> 
> And, if you like my content, you can find my Ko-fi link on my [Carrd](https://keithtrash.carrd.co). Just press the cup with a heart on the buttons on the bottom!


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